North Carolina: Asheville Craft Beer & Food Tour

Public Tour Dates: September 13 - 15, 2019

The term “craft” seems to be paired most often with beer these days, but it really includes anything involving skill in making things by hand. Asheville alone is home to 26 breweries, with the surrounding area boasting over 50 – making it easy to see why it has been called the beer mecca of the United States. But don’t write this off if you aren’t a big beer enthusiast. Food lovers have also been flocking to this bohemian mountain town and it has a well-deserved reputation as a food-focused city, attracting highly regarded chefs to its multitude of restaurants. It also offers vibrant arts and entertainment, with musicians on practically every street corner and shops offering fun and funky local wares.

On this tour, we’ll explore the many different facets of “craft” via visits centered on chocolate, honey, beer, and even ice cream! We’ll meet with the men and women who create these incredible products to learn about – and of course, sample – their crafts, all in the shadow of the striking Blue Ridge Mountains.

Private Tour Option

Private Tours are available to book with your own group on any date you choose, given guide and lodging availability

Trip Price: $1,600 per person ($350 single supplement)

Minimum: 8 people

Customizations to the itinerary possible with additional per person fees

Please note – Our pricing is based upon double occupancy lodging. If upon finalizing your private trip, your group has a solo traveler in a room without a roommate, the single supplement becomes mandatory. This amount will differ depending on the itinerary. Please contact our tour operations team for more details.

Tour Itinerary

Day 1

We meet at our Asheville hotel at 1:30 PM for introductions and quickly set off for our first craft experience – a tour and tasting at the internationally-recognized Chocolate Fetish chocolate shop. We’ll take a peek behind the curtain to learn how they create their award-winning confections and, of course, taste a sweet or two. We then make our way to the Asheville Bee Charmer for a sampling of a variety of different honey and other bee-made products.

After, we walk to one of Asheville’s iconic breweries – Green Man Brewery We’ll tour all three of their facilities while learning about their history and what makes them different from other breweries, all while sipping on some of their tasty brews.

We then end our first day of the tour with a welcome dinner at one of Asheville’s delectable farm-to-table restaurants. After dinner, you’re free to explore Asheville’s vibrant nightlife with many restaurants, bars, and breweries within walking distance of our hotel.

Day 2

We’ll start our day with a tasty farm-to-table brunch at a local restaurant. We then head across town for an Ultimate Ice Cream experience! Ultimate Ice Cream is a creamery that creates their ice creams, gelatos, sorbets, almond milk creams and no sugar added flavors with local milk and the finest local ingredients. They also have a heart of gold as they make a monthly flavor where the proceeds go to different charity each month. Not only will we get to sample their products, but we’ll take part in a mixing session to create our very own flavor!

We make our way back to the downtown area of Asheville where you are free to grab lunch where you wish. There are plenty of options around every corner of this food-loving city! Just tell our guides what kind of food you’re looking for and they can point you in the right direction.

After lunch, we hop back in the van to head up to the grandfather of Asheville breweries – Highland Brewing. Established in 1994, Highland paved the path for Asheville’s craft movement and continues to be a major player today. We’ll take a tour of their facility and end with a pint of their delicious beer in their taproom or rooftop bar overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains.

For dinner, we enjoy another one of Asheville’s incredible farm-to-table restaurants with creative options and fresh ingredients. After dinner, there’s an optional walk to “South Slope” to explore a number of additional breweries.

Day 3

On our final day together, we’ll start with breakfast at the hotel and head out to another impressive North Carolina estate, Sierra Nevada. Set on a beautiful 90-acre forested property, we’ll strap on our walking shoes and explore not only the various tastes and flavors of Sierra Nevada’s craft beer, but the nature that surrounds it. We’ll learn how they harness and protect the various natural elements, including the French Broad River, native plants and trees, sunshine, and rain, to create their brews.

This ends our craft tour of Asheville. We can shuttle you to the airport to grab your flight home or drop you off at your hotel to continue your trip.

“

"I was concerned about the limitations of being on a guided tour as well as having to spend the entire time with a group of strangers. What I found was that the tours were extremely well planned and the accommodations, meals, and activities were perfect! And at the end of the trip, the people that began the tour not knowing each other, parted as a group of forever friends planning another adventure together with Taste Vacations." - Alice T.

Tour Accommodations

Accommodations

Hotel Indigo Asheville

The Hotel Indigo Asheville is a modern oasis located in the heart of downtown Asheville, with a breathtaking backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Enjoy comfortable accommodations within walking distance of many restaurants, bars, shops, and breweries.

What is Included

All Local Transportation

Double Occupancy Lodging

All Meals Except Lunch

All Scheduled Activities

Wine and Beer During Organized Tastings

Professional Tour Host

Not Included: Travel to and from destination, wine or beer with meals, personal expenses, and optional gratuities to local staff and your Host

Arrival & Departure

We meet at 1:30 PM on the first day of the tour at our downtown Asheville hotel, allowing you to arrive either that morning or the day before. The tour finishes in Mills River, just outside of Asheville, before lunch on the final day of the tour.

Everything contained in a Classic Tour, plus an upgrade to what we consider the best five-star lodging in the tour area or, when that is not available, an upgrade to a suite or equivalent room style.

All our wine tours include tastings of very good to excellent wines. However, these are not necessarily rare, reserve, or old wines. If you would like to upgrade your wine tastings on a private tour, please let us know in advance and we are happy to arrange that at an additional cost.

Some Deluxe Tours include special experiences not available on Classic Tours.

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